Help. The chicks are hatching in 6 days and I still haven't decided on a plate.

[Mmanist]

But a light bulb is much easier and sold at TSC good ones at good price !!! I bought two .

Actually I bought the brooder heater from TSC!

 

[Joylime322]

Actually I bought the brooder heater from TSC!

The producers pride one? How is it? Does it work well?!

 

[Mmanist]

The producers pride one? How is it? Does it work well?!

So far it been running for 3 weeks. Works well! Haven't tried the radiant heater setting though. Just brooder setting

 

[Joylime322]

A

So far it been running for 3 weeks. Works well! Haven't tried the radiant heater setting though. Just brooder setting

Awesome!

 

[ValerieJ]

Chiming in because when I tried a heat plate, Premiere in my case, I found it burned the chick. Seemed like a torture chamber where they would try to stand up and get close to it and then jump away because they just got burned.

I switched to the Sweeter Heater, which uses radiant heat, and it works like a charm. It is a little more expensive, but no burning chicks, no red lamps that can break, no hot spots, just nice warm chicks.

Here is a link.

 

[Trisseh]

I haven’t had any issues with any species (including quail) that I’ve hatched under a heating pad... depending on the species I use different things to prop it up though... the ducklings and larger chicks get a wire frame, the bantam chicks get the wire frame a lot lower, and the quail get 2 rolled up socks to hold the edges up... the quail that are too cool can climb on the sock and get closer to the pad, and the ones that aren’t too cold sit in the middle. I mean, I’ve had to put <24 hour old quail back under it if they come out and can’t find their way back, but by the time they’re a day old they seem to have the hang of it. And that really goes for all species, not just quail. They’re just smaller so they get chilled a lot faster... I also adjusted my brooder container for them, so they have less distance to travel early on. The first 5 days or so, they’re in one of those small cat carriers with a sunbeam heating pad. There’s maybe 3 inches of space between the door and the heating pad, so there’s a cooler spot but they don’t get stranded too far away. Then after that they go into the bigger kennel with half of it being heating pad, and half being unheated. I guess it really depends on how much time throughout the day you can spend checking on them and adjusting as necessary... I try to hatch my quail on Friday, so over the weekend I’m home with them and can make any changes.